Van Gass wins para-cycling gold in fantastic day for veterans at the Paralympics

Former Parachute Regiment soldier Jaco van Gass has won Britain's first gold in the velodrome in the Men's C3 3000m Pursuit in a fantastic day for forces athletes at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Van Gass powered to victory over Finlay Graham in the final with a thumping time of 3:18:460, beating him down to silver by 4.080 seconds.

This is van Gass' third Paralympic Games gold medal after winning two golds in Tokyo, including in the Men's C3 3000m Pursuit.

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Van Gass came into the event as the defending champion and the defending world champion, having also set a new world record in the qualifying round. 

Speaking to ParalympicsGB, van Gass said: "I’m overwhelmed, delighted and just generally happy it's over to be honest.

"It has been a rollercoaster to this moment. I rode an average qualifier, it wasn't perfect, and I knew I had something to work on for the final. It paid off, and I’m just elated to be there."

Stevenson and Rowles smash records

Elsewhere, fellow Army veteran and para-rower Gregg Stevenson and his teammate Lauren Rowles won their preliminary heat to cruise through to the final of the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls, breaking their own World Best Time and setting a new Paralympic Best Time.

The pair, who clocked a commanding time of 7:56.92, are the heavy favourites to win gold when they compete in the final on Sunday.

Speaking to ParalympicsGB, Rowles said: "We’ve been promising the fans and our partners that we'd come out and set a world record.

"We’ve been saying sub-eight minutes for a long time now and it’s nice to deliver on that today - it’s what we’ve been trying to do in the last couple of years.

"Personally, I've been working in the last 10 years to do a sub-eight minutes and push this field out to where it has never been before.

"Our goal was to deliver a world best and then that gold medal.

"It's all about going out, winning that race and continuing the legacy of this boat. I can't wait to get out there and do it with Gregg."

Robinson anchors GB's win against Denmark

Royal Air Force veteran Stu Robinson played an instrumental part in Great Britain's second test in the wheelchair rugby preliminary round with a narrow 55-53 victory against Denmark.

Robinson scored a total of 26 tries to help the reigning Paralympic champions fend off a strong Danish team. 

Following their win against Australia on Thursday, Great Britain's win against Denmark means they are in a strong position to progress to the semi-finals when they face home favourites France on Saturday.

Speaking to ParalympicsGB, Robinson said: "It’s going to be a tough match whoever we play in this tournament.

"We knew following our win yesterday there was going to be a target on our back as Paralympic champions. We knew we had to bring our A-game and it was good to bring home another victory."

On scoring his 26 tries, Robinson added: “Without sounding too boring, it’s my job to score tries.

"The first priority is that you come away with a victory and we’ve come away with two from two so far.”